Sonofresco / Q&A / Tip & Tricks

[milowebailey]

Have you cleaned the fine screen really well lately.  When I had my sono the fine screen would get a buildup of oils and I would soak it in a mixture of oxyclean and water overnight.... came out bright and shiny again.  You miight also soak the chaff collector in the Oxyclean too... if the oils have built up the chaff might be sticking to to oils and limiting airflow.

If all else fails call Sonofresco... I'm sure they will be able to tell you what to check.

[Tex]

Say I have two roast chambers and wished to crank out batches more quickly. After I reach the desired roast level of batch #1 and pull the beans, I dump them into a waiting cooling device and put the chamber with batch #2 in the Sono and press the roast button.

Whoa, says the Sono - you haven't let the previous roast properly cool so I'm shutting down for a while, sorry! So how do we get a Sono to crank out continuous batches without the requisite wait?

[ScareYourPassenger]

Replace the control board with a Milowidget:)

[Tex]

Replace the control board with a mythological  Milowidget:)

FIFY!

[jmp]

I was at the Seattle coffee feast last week and Sono is going to offer a laptop interface to change the profile....

[Tex]

I was at the Seattle coffee feast last week and Sono is going to offer a laptop interface to change the profile....

I'd sure like to see this software, because based on what I've seen that's going to be the toughest task. See, the Sono has a simple On/Off gas valve, which causes the heat to be virtually unregulatable with their current program. If you log actual beans temp profiles as I do you'll see a very wide range of temps as the heat cuts in/out.

So if they'd provide the software I'd switch the gas valve myself (I believe milo once posted a link to the one I'd need?)

[jmp]

I didn't, talk to him long but he said in the retro-fit, there was a module installed inside the roaster. Could it be a variable gas valve and would that work? You sound like you know more than me, you should call the company.

[Joe]

Same, had a grill sorta thing then a fine screen.  The grill clogs up.  I removed my exhaust pipes bc I thought it could be an airflow issue.  It didn't help.  What's your thoughts or tips? My Harrar is getting scorched and is causing me to be a little malnourished. Lol

My bet would be that your plenum where the air passes by the thermocouple has a bunch of fuzz and oil on it. If you clean that part of your roaster with water(except the thermocouple- only dry clean) all of your problems will disappear.

[Tex]

I've been doing a lot of roasting lately, and I've come to the conclusion that the ideal batch size for my Sonofresco model 1100 is 1 lb 1 oz (17 ozs).

I'm attaching two graphs that show a typical profile of a 17 & 19 ounce batch. Notice the more exaggerated dips with the heavier batch. I believe that a lighter batch permits better bean agitation, resulting in a better profile. Sonofresco recommends 1 lb 4 oz in their documentation. I can't find the graph I did for it, but my notes indicate an even wilder temp swing.

Anyone else done any roast measurements of the their Sono?

[jmp]

Tex...Would bean size and moisture content(ie weight) affect the profile?

[Tex]

Tex...Would bean size and moisture content(ie weight) affect the profile?

Well, roasting is all about variables, but the batch was made up with:  Brazil (11 oz), PNP (4oz), and Ethiopian Harrar (4oz). The same Brazil and PNG (65/35) were in the batch shown in the other graph, and I doubt the 2 ozs of natural Ethiopian made a difference.

What I'm seeing is more temp variation with larger batches. For now I'm limiting my batch sizes to 17 ozs.

[1981er]

Was that pulled mid-2c?

[Tex]

Was that pulled mid-2c?

It was roasted to ~4 seconds into a consistent 2nd crack. It's difficult to judge 1st & 2nd cracks with a pre-roast blend, so I ignore outliers completely.

[yankeeNH]

This is interesting. I actually have done the opposite recently. I've increased the batch size of my 2 pounder to 2.8 lbs (the Sono-written capacity) and found that I have *less* temperature swing as the gas cycles on and off, primarily because the bean mass size helps keep it more stable. This is not substantiated by anything other than watching the temperature on the Sono (holding the up and down arrows down simultaneously) through several gas on/off cycles. I'm very scientific as you can see. 

I've been doing a lot of roasting lately, and I've come to the conclusion that the ideal batch size for my Sonofresco model 1100 is 1 lb 1 oz (17 ozs).

I'm attaching two graphs that show a typical profile of a 17 & 19 ounce batch. Notice the more exaggerated dips with the heavier batch. I believe that a lighter batch permits better bean agitation, resulting in a better profile. Sonofresco recommends 1 lb 4 oz in their documentation. I can't find the graph I did for it, but my notes indicate an even wilder temp swing.

Anyone else done any roast measurements of the their Sono?

[ScareYourPassenger]

FYI, I called them because I was having issues with lower density beans and they mentioned that adjusting the gas valve might help. I will be trying it this weekend.